THE TRIUMPHANT RETURN OF GENERAL ROUGE Review

[Our thanks to Sam Bakhtiar for the following review.]

I went into this film blind. Knowing nothing about it's rich background, which includes a previous full-length film, a television drama series and a series of novels, it might seem difficult to end up caring. Surprisingly that is not the case. Yoshihiro Nakamura's "The Triumphant Return of General Rouge", part of the hospital suspense/mystery 'Team Batista' series, is constructed in such a way that no previous knowledge of the series is necessary.

Right from the start, "The Triumphant Return of General Rouge" makes a point to show the inherent pressure of hospital work. Not just for the doctors, but for the entire staff. In the opening we are shown a hectic nightmare scenario of a hospital's ER ward after a tragic accident, in which patients are endlessly rushed in one after another, to the point where there clearly isn't enough room for anymore. Instead of turning down incoming patients, the ER's supervisor Dr. Hayami (nicknamed 'General Rouge') accepts everyone that has a chance to live, despite the protests by his staff. This opening foreshadows one of the central issues dealt with in the film, the animosity between Hayami and his subordinates versus Hayami's ideals.

Although the film's opening and closing contains intense action (as intense as hospital drama gets), the remainder is mostly just talk. The protagonist is Dr. Taguchi, a soft-spoken psychiatrist who gets appointed as the hospital's ethic committee chairperson. The mystery begins when she receives an anonymous letter having to do with Dr. Hayami and unauthorized transactions with a private medical supplier. This scandal is not especially exciting, but it ultimately leads to discussions of bureaucratic red tape, corruption, commercial law and even murder. Nakamura does his best to lighten the mood however, with humorous moments sprinkled in between the politics.

Being set primarily inside the hospital, "General Rouge" thankfully has a varied and interesting cast of characters. Introduced early on is Keisuke Shiratori (Hiroshi Abe), an eccentric person working for the Ministry of Health and Labor who is able to weave in and out of the hospital's different factions and ends up acting more like a private detective. Dr. Hayami/General Rouge (Masato Sakai) is especially interesting, as we gradually find out more about his personality and his ideals as the film progresses. One of the films least interesting characters however, is the protagonist Dr. Taguchi (Yuko Takeuchi). She is the eyes and ears of the viewer, though the actual character's role in the plot is fairly insignificant.
 
The final act is a continuation of the films opening. After an hour and a half of politics, it's refreshing to see the characters we've learned so much about be put into action. It is then when you realize that as a character study, "The Triumphant Return of General Rouge" is successful. Without spoiling, every issue is wrapped up quite neatly by the end, including the big one concerning Dr. Hayami and his staff. There's even a few clever surprises concerning the initial mystery.

It was Nakamura's involvement in "The Triumphant Return of General Rouge" that made me take notice in the first place, as "The Two in Tracksuits", his previous film, was one of my personal favorites of 2008. Though nowhere near as entertaining, nor as 'vital' (had to), General Rouge offers a decent mystery and an interesting look into the politics of hospital work.